Maud Le Pladec Democracy

May 3–4, 2014

“She makes dance as one dreams of seeing it: embracing the music, blending with it and opening up to unbridled imagination.”—Fukuoka Now, Japan

“What is a wild democracy?”
—Maud Le Pladec

One of the most important figures in the new generation of French choreographers, Maud Le Pladec creates a high energy dance to the powerful and raw sound of Dark Full Ride by Julia Wolfe, cofounder of the music group Bang on a Can. In this North American premiere on MCA Stage, five dancers respond and interact to live music performed onstage by four drummers from TaCTus Ensemble.

Le Pladec was inspired by the manifest radicalism of the music, explaining, “There is something quite revolutionary in the energy of this piece.” She uses that intense energy to explore her own philosophical and political questions, conjuring up moments of collective belonging where individual “voices” are simultaneously independent and joined to one another without ever being harmonic. Logical impulses dissipate as the dancers transform continuously, moving together and then falling away with an intense physicality driven by the urgent sound.

55 minutes, no intermission.
Strobe lights and a prop gun will be used during the performance.
At the request of the artist, there will be no late seating.

About the Artist

Maud Le Pladec is a young French choreographer and a vital artist of new and sensitive dance. Creating work as complex sensory experiences for the performers as well as the audience, she dives deeply into an embodiment of movement and music, at times creating a ritual or transformative state. Her dances, though abstract, communicate strongly from the crossroads of contemporary art and popular culture.

Le Pladec trained with Mathilde Monnier and later performed with her on several key projects. She has performed in works by Herman Diephuis and has an ongoing role dancing for Boris Charmataz. Her 2010 work Professor, based on a conceptual project to translate physically everything heard in the music of Italian electronic composer Professor Bad Trip, won the Choregraphic Revelation Award from the Syndicat de la Critique in France.

In 2012, Le Pladec began work on a trilogy of major works based on the music of David Lang, Julia Wolfe, and Michael Gordon, the three cofounders of the American new music collective Bang on a Can. This long-term choreographic project parallels specific musical opuses. The first work, Dystopia and Ominous Funk, draws from music by David Lang. The second part of the trilogy, Democracy, is built on the music of Julia Wolfe and debuts in the United States on MCA Stage.

Artists Up Close

Open Doors
Fri, May 2, 3–6 pm

As part of Chicago Dance Month, museum visitors are invited to engage in a brief conversation with Maud Le Pladec, choreographer, followed by an open rehearsal from 4–6 pm with Maud Le Pladec and her dancers, accompanied by percussion quartet TaCTuS, as they rehearse the US debut of Democracy.

MCA Talk: First NightSat, May 3

Yolanda Cesta Cursach, Associate Director of Performance Programs, leads a discussion with the artists and audience immediately following the performance.

Downloads

Funding

Generous support for Maud Le Pladec: Democracy is provided by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the US and Institut Français. Additional support is provided by David Herro and Jay Franke. Tour support is provided by Ville de Rennes and SPEDIDAM.